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Electricity Arbitration and Sector Coupling with an Experimentally Validated Reversible Solid Oxide Cell Reactor System Connected to the Natural Gas Grid
Author(s) -
Santhanam Srikanth,
Heddrich Marc P.,
Friedrich Kasper Andreas
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
energy technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.91
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 2194-4296
pISSN - 2194-4288
DOI - 10.1002/ente.201900618
Subject(s) - chemical energy , energy storage , process engineering , renewable energy , chemical looping combustion , energy transformation , solid oxide fuel cell , electric potential energy , natural gas , electricity , power to gas , waste management , chemistry , environmental science , electrolysis , electrical engineering , engineering , thermodynamics , power (physics) , anode , physics , organic chemistry , fluidized bed , electrode , electrolyte
Chemical energy storage offers an attractive solution for the arbitration of intermittent renewable electricity due to its higher energy storage capacity and storage duration. Reversible solid oxide cell (rSOC) reactor systems can efficiently operate in electrolysis operation to convert electrical energy to chemical energy or in fuel cell mode to convert chemical energy back to electrical energy. Natural gas is widely used in the chemical industry as a source of energy and hydrogen. Hence, storing electrical energy in the form of synthetic natural gas can couple electricity arbitration with chemical process industries. A methane‐based rSOC system concept for the purpose of energy storage and sector coupling is investigated. A process system analysis is performed based on an experimental study of a commercially available rSOC reactor. A validated rSOC reactor model is used to identify optimal system operating conditions. The proposed system concept achieves a chemical to electrical energy conversion efficiency of 57% and electrical to chemical energy conversion efficiency of 93% based on first law and lower heating value. A net electrical storage efficiency of 53% can be achieved.